:: Zimmers Hole - When You Were Shouting At The Devil... We Were In League With Satan

Zimmers Hole

Anyone who’s remotely familiar with Devin Townsend’s immense body of work will no doubt be aware of Canadian thrash/death metal act Zimmers Hole. Formed as a side project to their main gigs as far back as 1991, the four piece act released two largely overlooked, yet hysterically funny metal parody albums in ‘Bound By Fire’ (1996) and ‘Legion Of Flames’ (2001). But following the demise of Strapping Young Lad, Zimmers Hole once again regrouped as a full-time project, with all of their focus directed toward their long overdue third full-length effort. As evident with the progression shown between their first two albums, ‘When You Were Shouting At The Devil…We Were In League With Satan’ undoubtedly boasts the group’s strongest production to date. But aside from the sound, Zimmers Hole’s latest effort is also their most thought out and well written, which at times works in the band’s favour, and at other times works in the opposite direction.

The opening title track ‘When You Were Shouting At The Devil…We Were In League With Satan’ is definitely one of the album’s strongest moments. This track alone has everything you could possibly want. Although the band don’t take themselves too seriously on the lyrical side of things, the music more than makes this track stand up for itself. The huge riffs, Hoglan’s relentless drumming action and Valagao’s amazing range all come together to create what is nothing short of an absolute classic, but with plenty of Zimmers Hole’s trademark humour.
‘We Rule The F**king Land’ and ‘The Flight Of The Night Bat’ and ‘1312’ are every bit as strong as the opening track in terms of memorable and brutal riff structures, while the shorter ‘The Vowel Song’, the power metal sounding ‘Alright’, the anthem like ‘Hair Doesn’t Grow On Steel’ and the punishing/evil closer ‘What’s My Name…Evil!’ simply annihilate everything within sight. Unfortunately, not everything works on the album as well as intended. Both ‘Devil’s Mouth’ and ‘Anonymous Esophagus’ seem to raise a chuckle the first time around, but don’t quite have the same appeal with repeated listens, while ‘Fista Corps’ tends to get a little monotonous with it’s repetitive structure.

On their third release, Zimmers Hole seems to be relying less on their humour. While there’s nothing to complain about on the music side of things, the fact that the humour has been toned down seems to take away from the album rather than add to it, which at times is a bit of a disappointment. If you’re a fan of Zimmers Hole’s past work, then you’ll definitely find some merit in ‘When You Were Shouting At The Devil… We Were In League With Satan’. But be warned, Zimmers Hole are a serious full time band these days, and it would seem to some extent, at the cost of their sense of humour.